Borussia Dortmund vs SC Freiburg: Match Preview
By Josh Hill
Borussia Dortmund travels to SC Freiburg Saturday to take on a surprising challenger who has managed to turn some heads this season.
SC Freiburg is a classic mid to small sized club that yo-yo’s back and forth from the top flight and the Bundesliga 2. Since 2000, SC Freiburg has been relegated three times and also won promotion back to the Bundesliga three times. During that stretch, the club has spent eleven seasons in the top flight, including the current season, and the final positions have fluctuated wildly. Their top end includes a 5th and 6th place finish along with the usual relegation battles with some mid-table action thrown in. This particular season is shaping up to be another of the top end types, meaning Borussia Dortmund could be in for a battle.
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The most interesting stat for SC Freiburg and worrying for Borussia Dortmund is that the home form of the weekend’s hosts has been among the best in the Bundesliga. SC Freiburg has won seven home matches to this point in the season and only lost three, good for the third-most home victories. The intimate Schwarzwald-Stadion, while not massive can still create an intimidating atmosphere. Combine that with a very pragmatic playing style and SC Freiburg has created a very difficult home field advantage.
If not for RB Leipzig, then SC Freiburg would be the toast of the newly promoted town. Currently sitting at a very strong 9th place, hopes of European qualification are still in the cards. The club can boast of a very balanced offensive attack with four players having scored five or more goals this season. Maximilian Philipp leads with seven and Nils Petersen, Florian Niederlechner, and Vincenzo Grifo all round out the danger threats.
Despite the fresh-faced success, SC Freiburg is primed for a regression. Their -8 goal differential speaks to a team much lower on the table and there are other worrying trends. The club only retains 47% possession and is currently outshot 13.1 to 12.7 per match (according to whoscored.com).
It will be interesting to see as the season trundles on how SC Freiburg can respond to the pressure from hard charging clubs below them. Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach are directly behind SC Freiburg on the table and with a difficult upcoming schedule that features Borussia Dortmund Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim a regression might be in store for the club.
Regression or no expect Borussia Dortmund to be in for quite a fight Saturday. While they finally got an entire week off from midweek action, due to the inconsistent away from who knows which Borussia Dortmund will show up.
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The match will probably shape up as many BVB matches usually do with the black and yellow. SC Freiburg will likely concede possession and strike on the counter. That was the successful game plan against Bayern Munich in their 2-1 loss. The key will be eliminating those counter attacks early and effectively. Combine that with SC Freiburg usually playing a traditional 4-4-2 I would expect Julian Weigl to be a key cog in shutting down the counter but also in cycling the attack.
Thankfully Borussia Dortmund enters the match with no new injuries and with that week off, BVB should be firing on all cylinders. I would expect aggressive attacking outfit Saturday and I’m willing to make a prediction that Aubameyang breaks his scoring drought.